Mizoram is set to get a Ministry of Health and Family Welfare award this week for reducing infant mortality rate nearly by half.
Mizoram health department officials on Wednesday told Northeast Now that Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Jagat Prasad Nadda would hand over the award to Dr Lalrozama, Mission Director, National Health Mission and Dr Hmingthanmawii, State Programme Officer, Reproductive Child Health at Hotel Hyatt Regency, New Delhi on June 29.
Infant mortality rate (IMR) in Mizoram during the fiscal year 2016-17 stood at 21 with 405 infants dying before attaining the age of one, the rate was highest in the southernmost Lawngtlai district at 29, followed by neighbouring Siaha district at 28.
The horrid rate of infant mortality became a headache for Mizoram health department officials and all out efforts to reduce infant mortality was given this fiscal year reducing child mortality rate nearly by half.
Mizoram government sources said only 14 infant deaths are recorded in the current year which is a big achievement.
Many villages in the southern districts of Lawngtlai and Siaha in Mizoram are situated in remote locations and literacy rate is also low compared to the other districts. There is lack of basic health knowledge, and moreover many malnourished pregnant mothers cross over from Myanmar side which has become a major hurdle in reducing infant deaths.
